Edge: What Businesses Can Learn from Football

by Ben Lyttleton

What is talent?
How do you fulfil your potential?
How do you create a winning team?

These three simple questions, which are fundamental to the running of any successful business, take Ben Lyttleton on a fascinating journey to some of the world’s top football clubs to discover the innovative new methods of developing and maximising talent.

Football is the most hot-housed, intense, financially-profitable talent factory on the planet. It’s time we woke up to the lessons it can provide. Elite football clubs across Europe are identifying new ways to measure intangible skills ‘above the shoulder’, such as teamwork, adaptability, decision-making, resilience and creativity. These clubs have revealed how they get an edge. And you can do the same.

Ben Lyttleton speaks to some of the most original thinkers in football, going behind the scenes at Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea, Liverpool, and the France national team, to pinpoint the skills and methodologies that are not only relevant to football but also the business world.

We all want to have an edge. This is your chance to find one.

Genres: Business, Football, Soccer, Sports, Nonfiction

300 pages, Hardcover

Published September 7, 2017

About the author

Ben Lyttleton is a journalist, newscaster,and soccer consultant. He is the author of Twelve Yards: The Art and Psychology of the Perfect Penalty Kick. He lives in London.

Reviews

[Quintin Zimmermann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let's be frank - the crazy world of elite football profligacy, obscene salaries and endorsements has almost nothing in common with the corporate world of business, unless we are taking about CEO salaries (but I digress).

Ben Lyttleton does make a commendable attempt to draw parallels and even endeavours to transpose lessons for the business world. But who are we kidding? That would be like using karate to teach ballet, both involve physical activity, but they are worlds apart in style and execution.

So did I hate this book for fundamentally failing to address it's very own premise?

No, Ben Lyttleton still takes the reader on a fascinating journey behind the football scenes and interviews some of the most progressive thinkers in football today.

The social model engrained at Athletic Club de Bilbao flies in the face of the globalised football industry and yet works for the club and their devoted supporters.

Ben Darwin's analytical tools such as TeamWork Index (TWI) and Team Shared Experience (TSE) provides quantitative insights into team performance. We have England's disastrous Euro 2016 campaign on the one side and Leicester's one season wonder on the other side.

A detailed examination of the partnership between Michels and Cruyff that revolutionised Dutch and global football with Total Football. The subsequent crossover in child development between the philosophies of Cruyff and Montessori to address the Relative Age Effect in sport teams.

AZ Alkmaar utilisation of an Israeli neural-tracking software tool called Intelligym to significantly improve the skills of players. Let's not forget the Moneyball type recruitment analytics that are infusing football with indispensable modern technology.

Even though this book may not give you the proclaimed edge in business, it is still an absorbing read for any football enthusiast who seeks a better understanding of the finer mechanics of the beautiful game.

[Tim Roast · Rating 4 out of 5]

How do you get an edge in football? You do it by eating half-time oranges – just look at the cover of this book. No, that is not really what this book says.

The book’s aim is to discover how certain teams or individuals in football have gone about getting an “edge” – “a competitive advantage” – and then how that can be applied in the business world. “Edge” is broken down into five aspects, a chapter covering each: Cohesion, Adaptability, Decision-making, Resilience and Creativity.

The book starts at Athletic Club de Bilbao and focuses on their Basque-only policy. In today’s global football world they restrict their player pool to an area with the population of 3 million making them different and an interesting case study. In fact I thought all the case studies in this book were good picks. Even controversial clubs like RB Leipzig are not overlooked. They do it a different way, which everyone may not appreciate, and so it makes them a good case study to look at.

I enjoyed the football but I don’t know so much how I would relate this to a non-football business if I needed to as some of the stuff in here doesn’t seem transferable. For example looking around more on the pitch makes you a better player because you have a better picture in your head of where you can put the ball when you get it. This is then likened to preparing for a meeting in the business world which is something I do already.

Talking of business people there are plenty of references to where the research used can be obtained from throughout the text (although the one piece of research I wanted to see, “research that showed the best chance of scoring is within eight seconds of winning back the ball”, was not referenced).

So overall I enjoyed the football, less so the business parts.

[Fabrizio Poli · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read a lot of books about business and peak performance (see my numerous reviews here on Goodreads) and I must say this book is ACE!
I am a football fan but a also an entrepreneur. Ben Lyttleton has done extensive research and brought it all together with an engaging and practical style. I disagree with some of the negative reviews about this book. I captured a number of very useful lessons applicable in business from the footballing world.
Interesting to see what the scouts look for in young players. Not so much the skill but how a player reacts when he makes a mistake, misses a penalty and loses the ball. Resilience is an important factor in order to achieve success. You are going to make mistakes along your path, you neeed to learn and move on. The book also talks about environment and how that influences a player. There are some great stories in this book and I highly recommend it!

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is like a road trip, where Lyttleton interview many top-level soccer coaches, to learn about modern techniques for getting the best out of players and everyone in involved in football teams (though mainly players).

It was interesting, an enjoyable read, and at times entertaining, but the subtitle is "What business can learn from football", and the book doesn't really live up to that billing. Sure there are parts where it's obvious, but each chapter could have done with a final section distilling down the message, and then a final chapter distilling the whole book. The Epilogue kind of does that, but reads like the editor told Lyttleton it was needed, and he bashed it out in double-quick time.

I'd give it 7 / 10, rounding down to 3 / 5. Needs some rework and editing for tightness.

[GeorgeMonck · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating book that delves into many aspects of the highly competqtive world of elite professinal football.

I am not sure if the title of the book is completely accurate but enjoyed the content nevertheless.

My favourite chapter was about Athlectic Bilbao and I hope they continue with their culture into the future.

If you want a slightly different book abiut top level football then you will enjoy this.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

[Kristina Relampagos · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Football" was a come on - I had to read it. There are many valuable and heart-warming lessons from football that, as a fan, I know people should be exposed to. As a marketer, his collection of researches and interviews are better appreciated as a series of posts or articles. Online would be a more effective medium.

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating studies written in a very clear and accessible way. Illuminating to read such varied accounts of success and development, then over time ultimately seeing the recurring threads that bind all the innovators in this book together. Hugely enjoyable and educational. Well done all involved.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although its about what businesses can learn its also a very interesting book if your a football fan.

[Raihanda Rafi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every football fans should read this book, easy reading and enjoying

[Jeff Lynskey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Talent=ability x commintment

Superb 📚really enjoyable on lots of fronts

Talent definitions plus range of prople sime great anecdotes

Any sporting person should read

[Fabian Heeg · Rating 5 out of 5]

top Buch, hielt was es verspricht. Viele Learnings aus der Fussballwelt.

[Arnold Raharja · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the same vein with his earlier book, Ben Lyttleton dives into business with the same formula as how he dived into penalties. The topics are divided into mid-length articles in which he interviews or cites football businesspeople, managers, team staffs and experts from other fields. This can be somewhat boring in my opinion, but the range of discussion is wide enough.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book but found it could be quite hard going at times but maybe this was because I am not as familiar with all of the teams and managers as I used to be.

[LimeCream · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm probably not the target reader for this book, given that I hate football and all, but I did find it interesting. The writer has done a good job and manage to hold my interest throughout. I would recommend this.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for the opportunity to read.

[Toyin Spades · Rating 4 out of 5]

Management lessons that give insight to how different high performing managers yield the desired results in different teams that they find themselves.